


Ask the Silence that Hovers

by commanderogerss



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, I love her, i wanted to have a 'this is your life' feel for zarya, last two characters are mentioned and zenyatta just says a sentence from the game, my wife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 05:59:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7703245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commanderogerss/pseuds/commanderogerss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into the life of Aleksandra “Zarya” Zaryanova and how she grew up to become Zarya.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ask the Silence that Hovers

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of wanted just a general fic about Zarya and who she is, and I thought "why not I write it?". It's late and it's probably terrible, but eh, I like it, so here you go!

Growing up in a post war-world was something Aleksandra “Zarya” Zaryanova didn’t ask for, and yet, here she is. Her country was devastated and the lasting effects were horrible. Her parents joined the omnic war and came out alive but not with some scars and loss of limbs. Zarya knew of the propaganda laying around her village, but she still got caught up in the anti-omnic propaganda leaflets and radio shows enough that it clouded her mind.

     At first Zarya wanted to become a scientist, that’s how she came to have her partical cannon gun and even to this day will help out science research. In her old bedroom was walls to walls of russian scientist who helped out during the Omnic Crisis like Inga Markov and Roman Konstantinov who made fast advancements that put Russia on the scientific map.

     Things took a turn for the worst and Zarya got rid of the photos of her walls, she wanted to become strong, she wanted to save her village, she wanted to save her family. Her mother comes into her room, with a limp and a cane to put her weight on she looks at the child with distress.

     “Aleksandra, what are you doing?” She cries with confusion. Zarya turns around, tears streaming down her face and newspapers bunched in her hands.

     “I’m going to become strong, I’m going to save everyone, the omnics made a mess!” She replies, tearing down the words of her past heroes.

     A sigh comes from the older woman as she hobbles over and pats Zarya on the shoulder. She pounds at the walls, her tears not stopping.

     “I want to save people, I want to help people, I want to become the strongest woman there is!” She wails, as she continues to pound at the walls, she wants to do something to it, whether it breaks under pressure or her hands break. Zarya needs to feel something.

     “Aleksandra my dear, you are strong, turn around!” She commands, dropping her cane and giving the babbling younger Zaryanova a hug to calm her down. Zarya’s tears leave slowly, sobbing into her mother’s chest, heaving in great big breaths of air as she cries and cries. Knowing that this is what she wanted to do in the end. Saving her people is what she wanted to do.

* * *

Days go by, weeks go by and Zarya gets stronger and stronger. She gets noticed by a sports agent who helps her with her goal, getting stronger and stronger by the minute to compete in weightlifting and bodybuilding.

     Zarya watches on TV the many news segments on Overwatch, almost growing an interest to join them but her interest in becoming the strongest woman in the world was bigger. Her mother would make mentions of certain things that would happen.

     “Aleksandra, did you hear?” her mother calls from the kitchen. A small TV is set up in the corner with the news current on. Zarya runs from the other room with a towel wrapped around her head. Tomorrow will be her big day, the day that the biggest competition she’s competed in will be here, kind of like the Olympics, but bigger.

     “What is it mama?” She asks with a smile on her face.

     “They say here that Overwatch was corrupt people!” She says shocked. “Remember when you wanted to join, oh you were so cute. You loved Reinhardt and looked up to him!” Zarya purses her lips together before sighing.

     “Oh mama, not now, Overwatch was a long gone dream of mine. I have the finals tomorrow, you and papa won’t miss it? Will you?” She asks ignoring her mother's statements of Overwatch. She sighs but nods her head with a smile.

     “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she says finishing the dishes. Zarya leaves to go finish her training, leaving her mother alone in the room with Jack Morrison on screen trying to persuade the reporters that nothing corrupt is happening. “Oh Aleksandra,” her mother says to herself.

     The next day would be her very last of being known as Aleksandra, and the day she becomes Zayra. As she waits in the room for her name to be called only to hear over the speaker something different.

“ **Stay calm everyone, please form an orderly fashion and please be safe.** ”

     Confusion rang through Zarya, ‘ _Why would they need to evacuate?_ ’ she asks herself before there’s a large boom off in the distance. Zarya shoots up from her seat and runs to find her family. A look of dread and fear is on these people’s faces and Zarya just runs and runs finally finding her parents she holds their hands as they make their way home.

     Holding her father’s razor in her hand she begins shaving off her long golden hair into a short cut and dying it pink (because why the hell not), running out of the house she can hear the same continuous booms off in the distance, sirens blaring, and as she runs she goes to sign up and enlist in the army.

     Becoming world famous has been a dream of Zarya’s ever since she was a child, whether it be for science or for sports, she knew she wanted to save her people. And this was it. She was putting behind the fame and fortune to help out and be the fight against the Omnics.

* * *

The fight goes on and Zarya keeps on fighting, remembering why she did this in the first place, for her mother and father, for her friends and family, for her village, for mother Russia.

     As she grew tired and holled up in a little area for the night a man walks into her tent, Zarya didn’t take notice as she was focused on her gun, the stranger coughs and this takes Zarya out of her zone.

     “Yes?” She asks with a quirked eyebrow still sitting on the seat still looking at the gun and how to make it more powerful but she knew of the man in the room. She looked away and noticed him, the greying hair a few scars, he looked rugged up for the Russian cold compared to Zarya who thrives.

     “Aleksandra Zaryanova?” He asks and Zarya smirks. She hadn’t been calling herself that in months.

     “It’s Zarya, but yes, that’s me, what you want?” She asks, her thick Russian accent competing with his American accent.

     “I have a job for you, now, I come from a respectful organization with ties to UN, we originally came to fight with the Omnics and stopped that war.”

     “I know who you are, what does Overwatch want?” Zarya interrupts him. The man looks at her speechless. “Commander Jack Morrison, come here to save the day?” She asks almost bitterly, with venom punctured in every word.

     “Well,” he says not knowing how to continue this. “I guess I shouldn’t have come to you like that, knowing the predicament you’re in,” he says awkwardly. There’s been few Overwatch agents come out to help against the fight of the omnics and Zarya is pissed off. She’s become a leader to everyone, a lot of them knew her from her weightlifting and bodybuilding competitions.

     “Exactly, so what is it that you want of me? Can you not see I’m in the middle of war!” Her voice raises as she stands up and finds herself four inches taller than the older male, crossing her arms over her chest she smirks.

     “I guess I’ll outright say it, we want you to join Overwatch. You’ll be fantastic, you can get people to help with the second omnic war, and you can help people around the world!” He sounds too promising and too enthusiastic for an organization on the brink of explosion.

     “You’re a funny man,” she pauses and looks him up and down before going back to her partical cannon gun and fixing it, “I’ll think about it,” she adds not promising him much but it’s better then a no. He nods his head.

     “Thank you, Zarya, hopefully we’ll be in contact,” he says with a hopeful smile before he leaves her alone with her gun.

     Days, weeks, months go by and Zarya does nothing about the Commander and Overwatch. During a mission she was attacked by an Omnic, a couple of throwing stars who pierced her forehead, brow and upper cheek area giving her scar. It certainly scared her mother when she came home.

     But as those months go past, Zarya is home on leave with her mother and herself in their living room watching the news of Overwatch being disbanded, that there was a fight between two leaders of Overwatch groups and it ended up in a horrible explosion.

     “That’s so sad, what will happen now Aleksandra?” the older woman asks, Zarya looks on as Atlas News reports on the death toll and the destruction. Tears pricking at the corner of her eyes, she quickly wipes them away with her fingers.

     “Hopefully something good,” she says. The two of them stay quiet as they watch on and listen.

     Zarya didn’t like Overwatch now because they weren’t doing anything with this second crisis. They weren’t attacking the Omnics due to the ties they had with the UN and honestly wants them to say ‘ _screw this, we’re attacking those damn robots_ ’ but no, they can’t.

* * *

Three years pass and Zarya is still attacking in the war, gaining ranks fast but long enough that she is able to do what needs to be done.

     Except one night she gets a call, picking up the phone with a sigh.

     “Hello, this is Zarya,” she says.

     “I was looking for Aleksandra Zaryanova, is this not her?” The stranger on the phone has a slight formal tone to his voice.

     “Yes this is her,” she groans as she pinches the bridge of her nose. Zarya has now become to hate her name.

     “Hello, I’m Winston. We’re going against the UN, we’re going against everyone and reinacting Overwatch. Will you join?” He asks, the sound that everything will be okay is highlighted in his voice, but Zarya notes that he sounds a little out of breath.

     Looking around her family’s home she doesn’t know what to do, but maybe this will be different, maybe things will change.

     “Will we be able to help out with the second Omnic Crisis?” She asks sternly at the stranger.

     “Yes.” Zarya is confident enough in that single word that she decides, why the heck not.

     “Sign me up,” she says with a smile.

     What she didn’t sign up for was being on a team with an Omnic. But Zarya is confident enough that her team will win and fight the good fight, even if it’s with an Omnic.

     “I’ll have my eye on you Omnic,” she remarks looking at the bot while they await their mission. He looks onto her and pauses before he figures out what to say.

     “And I will watch your back in turn,” he says before going on his way.

     Zarya slowly grows fond of the Omnic through Genji and Bastion too as their missions progress through the months of being together. Of course, she doesn’t fully trust the three of them, but knows that they certainly aren’t as bad as most anti-Omnics paint them, but maybe one day she can fully appreciate the situation she was placed in. 


End file.
